A/N: es el 24 de diciembre de 2012

I can't believe it. We survived the end of the world. I'm kinda glad to all my work with this story wouldn't be a waste.

Nah, I'm just kidding. I didn't believe the end of the world would come. But I did write a ONE-shot with this story's universe about a certain speedster thinking it is the end of the world. This story is called 'Mayan Brains and Octopus Farts.'

Hope you enjoy it, it's my first attempt at humor.

Now for the mail thingie-majig-

puppylover12: Oh, thank you!

pleaseupdateg, nightmare: Well, here's the update! Haha, 'OMZ!' Oh, my, Zeus!'

Violet Eternity: I'm sorry it took so long!

Guest that reads: I try to put humor, and I like going to Barnes & Noble, so I thought, 'Why not make Whisper get kicked out of Barnes & Noble?'

Melancholy's Sunshine: Nope, Robin isn't going to look up 'Iris.' Want to know why? Because Robin KNOWS ALL. O.O He's like, God of Knowledge.

Flying Jay: Well, I try! Thank you for thinking so!

chrnarnia3: Great! I'm glad you feel that way!

Robin-Is-Totally-Whelming: Here's an update!

And to everyone: MERRY CHRISTMAS/HAPPY HOLIDAYS! I can' t believe it's going to be 2013 soon…

I feel old… -_-'

ROBIN

Riddler had escaped.

I stared at the newspapers on my holo-computer, absorbing the information. The newspapers were originally from Louisiana, but some where even from surrounding states. A couple nights ago, there had been a break out at the Belle Reve Penitentiary in Belle Reve Parish, Louisiana. Hence, why most of the newspapers came from Louisiana. Superboy and Miss Martian had been a part of this fiasco in order to find out what the trapped villains had been planning. I say fiasco, because I think they failed, not the villains. Why? It was a gut feeling.

In order to find support for my hypothesis, I opened the second tab on my computer. This one showed numerous video clips. Video clips of security cameras I'd hacked to get. I darted my eyes around me. I was in my room: a small place with enough to fit a full sized bed, a bedside table with a lamp next to the head, and a desk along the wall away from the bed. It was in a perfect rectangle, so there was a spot of space between the foot of my bed and the door. I was completely alone, but Tempest's room was too my right, and Whisper's to my left. Both people slept lightly, so the slightest noise might wake them up. Good thing holo-computers were called holograph computers for a reason: no buttoned keyboard. I needn't worry about anything else, because I'd fixed the security cameras to show I was meditating or cleaning my weapons after nine o'clock, and sometimes I'd deactivate it to show I truly was sleeping.

That only happens once every couple weeks for a few days. Like, the last couple nights for instance.

After ensuring that I was safe, I lowered the volume on the holo-computer and clicked on several videos. What they were saying was appearing at the bottom of the scream. I watched what happened at Belle Reve in fast speed, me being able to read what they were saying fast enough. I skipped no parts. I was at a part where Waller and her staff were in the male's wing and how Waller had taunted Brick. Just as Brick got ready to attack her, Hugo Strange stopped him. I frowned at his wording. He said around the lines it was best to keep Waller alive.

I knew that maybe my paranoia was acting up and making it seem like Strange was bad, and he could be good, just playing it smart by wanting Waller alive, but to be honest, why would villains want Amanda Waller, warden of their prison? What use would she be?

I rubbed my temples, a headache forming from so much mental thinking and keeping it all in without notes. This is why I wish I'd known about it. You can only learn so much from security cameras compared to first-hand experience. I would've asked to join the mission. I could've hid in the airshafts or something. Or, I could've done that without telling the Justice League.

Unfortunately, having insomnia had been taking its toll on me, and that one more all-nighter with Red Arrow had been my limit. Then, I hadn't been able to sleep the next day because I had to spend the day with Batman. Then, my insomnia acted up again preventing me from sleeping until September 13th, and only with the assistance of Whisper, Tempest, Black Canary, and even Batman (But mostly Whisper and Tempest.) acting as 24/7 sparring partners. And then, I'd slept for the entire day and even into September 14th which was the day Miss Martian and Superboy had left.

When I woke up, I'd plopped myself in the Lounge on the couch. Then Whisper tried to throw a newspaper at my face, but I caught it. On the cover it said, "Batman's New Sidekick?"

Great, I was in the newspaper.

After that, Black Canary had the brilliant idea of two days of training involving training centers with each one having a mentor member of the Justice League (Batman, Flash, Black Canary, Red Tornado, Aquaman, and even Green Arrow.) and us into groups, revolving every one or two hours and then the second half of the day spent at the center where we thought we needed most work in. Batman had done stealth and traps, Flash had done speed and endurance, Black Canary had done close combat, Red Tornado had done strategizing, Aquaman had done swimming (Big surprise there.), and Green Arrow had done accuracy and precision with projectiles.

I had to listen to six lectures on things I already know. Lucky me.

When we'd asked about Superboy and Miss Martian, Batman had said they were on a mission in a way that would keep everyone but me from prying for more. It was only Artemis, Tempest, Whisper, and me for that. Whisper and Artemis kept getting into fights, and Whisper would then drag Tempest or me into them. I was able to escape before I got stuck, but Tempest did not have that talent and he was forced to participate as the neutral side in the fights. By the end of the day, all four of us, including the mentors, went home with migraines but results or improvement. Though, I had none, and Whisper's and Tempest's were slow considering we didn't have much to improve on. Despite the migraines and fights, I think Whisper and Artemis had fun.

That training went all the way into September 18 actually. Then, we'd had to do it all over again. Why? Because that was the time Superboy and Miss Martian had returned and revitalized themselves. Whisper and I found out that Superboy's name was now Conner, which had been decided when we'd gone to Taipei and because of time differences, they'd gone to school while we'd been with a bomb. (We also found out that Miss Martian and Superboy or M'gann and Conner, had started dating. When they announced this- more like we figured it out though- Whisper had shouted, "Supermartian, galore!" and thoroughly creeped out everyone there including the Justice League members.) I would've snuck off, but I could practically feel Batman's stare observing me and making sure I didn't escape from the training, when in all actuality I wanted to learn about what had happened at Belle Reve.

(A/N: If the above was confusing, (it was even to me kind of) then I wrote down a-hopefully- clearer version in the second A/N below.)

Anyway, it was September 22, today, at around 1:30 a.m. when I was finally able to find out about Belle Reve. I did it at 1:30 a.m. for two reasons. 1) Whisper and Tempest might have stayed up late and 2) I had been so exhausted with my headache and a relearning of knowledge and activity that I'd taken a nap. When Whisper had checked in on me at 10:00 p.m. he'd been surprised. That was the first time I'd fallen asleep within a week in a while.

Even though the video's had been fast forwarded, and I'd used several monitors, it still took several hours to watch it all. I took a brief break while stretching into splits and jumps and whatnot, and then brushing my teeth and everything. After that, I used a longer amount of time to write a complete set of notes of what had happened. Once I'd started a document, I chose not to see what time it was so I wouldn't feel the urge to eat. This was too important. I printed the document once it was finished, and at the bottom of it, I wrote what I thought of Riddler. He was the only one to escape, despite him being belittled by the others at Belle Reve, which makes me think he's more than just some Gotham criminal that makes ridiculous riddles.

I sighed, and did a backhand spring to stretch. Then I started walking towards the training room. I immediately started going over my stretches and positions. Making kicks and punches to practice, and also doing acrobatic flips.

I heard someone come in after God knows how long and I stiffened, making a position of striking at a pressure point on the person's neck. I stopped it an inch away. It was just Whisper. "Dude, where have you been?" Whisper asked, not even flinching and chewing on the banana in his hand. He was in his civies; jeans, T-shirt, and a normal hoodie. "It's already like 5:30 p.m. and we haven't seen a single hair of yours all day. He took in my striking position and the perspiration that was building on my forehead. He stared at me in silence and then shook his head. "I don't even want to know, Rob,"

I just shrugged, shutting down the holo-computer. Whisper gestured towards the kitchen. "Lunch- or is it dinner?- is ready, and since you didn't eat breakfast, you're probably hungry. M'gann made pasta and red sauce with Tempest's help."

As he walked out, he threw a towel at me. I caught it with one hand and wiped my face as I walked out as well. Then, I joined the others. I grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and sat down at the island. Instantly, a cup of milk was slammed in front of me. I looked up to see M'gann's face. "I heard milk was good for you," she said, "and then I realized I'd never seen you drink milk before."

I understood what she wanted, and so, pushing down my surprise at seeing a cup of milk right in my face, I drank it in one gulp. I was rewarded by a smile and a plate of penne with Ragu. I picked up my fork and started eating. Beside me, Super- Conner and Whisper were doing the same. Tempest was on the inside of the island helping M'gann with cooking.

"So what are we doing for the rest of the day?" M'gann asked.

"Today was a free day," Tempest said, while holding a book and reading in one hand and stirring with the other. "I have a feeling that we'll be getting more of them because Conner, M'gann, and Artemis today have started school. Due to that, I think our missions will be less frequent. Though, they might assign missions of smaller scale for Whisper, Robin, and me."

I simply nodded in agreement. Whisper laughed. "Arty's started school? Which one? Do you know?"

Tempest gave him a look. "I do not know, but I am certain Robin knows." Everyone turned to me. I sighed and took out a notebook. Then I wrote down the school.

Whisper's laugh grew. "Hahahaha! She goes to Gotham Academy!? It's a nice school and all, but it doesn't seem like her at all. Man, I can't wait to see her in a uniform!"

"Whisper, don't laugh at Artemis," is all Tempest said.

"My bike still needs work," Conner cut in, taking us back to the original topic. "I'm going to work on it."

"I can help if you want." M'gann said. Her blush was quickly hidden, but I still caught it.

"Sure," Conner's grin as well I saw.

Whisper finished his bowl putting it in the sink and rinsing it. "I can help if you need it."

"Was that enough food?" M'gann asked, concern written over her face. "I heard that speedsters eat a lot."

Whisper grinned. "I ate five full bowls, I'll be fine. I don't use my speed often anyway."

Conner and M'gann finished eating and then all three went off to the garage. I heard beeping behind me, and I stiffened slightly. At first I'd been okay with Sphere, but I didn't feel comfortable with it now. I didn't know where it came from, what it was, nothing. It made me wary.

I hesitantly raised my hand and patted it. Sphere rolled back and forth making excited beeping noises, and then it rolled after Whisper, Conner, and M'gann.

"I think it likes you," Tempest said.

I scowled and signed Shut up. Tempest smirked and got up, his book in hand. Where are you going? I signed.

"I'm going to wait for Artemis to come by. I'm sure she will."

I can do that, I signed. Tempest rose an eyebrow.

"Are you sure?" I rolled my eyes and nodded. Tempest sighed and started his way to where the others were. As he walked by me, he ruffled my hair. "For some reason, I have a really bad feeling…" his voice trailed off. I watched him with my eyes as he walked off, and then I sat down on the couch. After a while, I heard a boom. I tensed, and half of me said it was just Whisper fooling around, but the other half told me to be alert. I loosened my lotus position, ready to bolt if needed.

Suddenly, a boom caused the room to shutter and something smashed in the distance. Then smoke flew into the room. The lights flickered out, and a red flashing one replaced it to signify a fire. I tightly rolled right off the couch and landed softly in a crouch with my back pressed against the couch seat. No dip, I thought and glared at the source of the light.

Artemis, Designation B07

I hissed, and grabbed Artemis. She screamed as she was suddenly- or at least to her- yanked. "Let go!" she yelled at me. I growled and then saw fire blasting at me out of the corner of my eye. Without letting go of Artemis, or even thinking about the motion, I jumped up and swung my legs over our arms, effectively dodging the fire. "Robin?" Artemis said, realizing who I was. She looked around taking in the smoke, red lights, and the annoying alarms that just started. "What's going on?" I shrugged, and she scowled at me, remembering I couldn't talk. Then her eyes widened. "What the heck is that?"

I followed her gaze, and through the barely clearing, thick smoke, was a bright red robot. It had the body of a female, but it looked like it was wearing a skin tight jumpsuit on instead of it looking like a naked woman. The only sign of any other color than red was a yellow arrow on her head, a stripe diagonally across her middle, and another on her thigh. The robot faced us and shot another stream of fire at us. Artemis yelped, and I yanked her along, throwing a bomb in the robot's direction. In response I heard a boom.

I ran towards the exit my mind racing and repeating one sentence. Where to go, where to go, where to go… As soon as we arrived at the exit entrance, a tidal wave crashed and front of us, and started to rush us. I narrowed my eyes, and ran the other direction, but we couldn't outrun it. The wave hit us harshly in the backs, knocking the air out of us. Then I felt cold and wet all over, as well as a floating sensation as the wave knocked us off our feet. We slammed onto the side wall coughing. Where are Tempest and Whisper when you need them? I thought briefly before running as a fireball fell with a hiss onto the water where we'd been.

"Where to?!" Artemis yelled over the steam as she fired arrows in the general direction of the robots. I thought quickly. The bathrooms? They might stop the water for a while. Then I remembered the tidal wave and the fire-controlling robot. If there was a fire-controlling robot, then there might be a water-controlling robot.

Artemis took my silence as me being mute; which was partly true. Can't she let a guy think? "Oh, I forgot." She said sarcastically, "You can't talk."

I rolled my eyes, and threw a shuriken at the fire-robot as soon as I saw it. The shuriken sank into the metal with a clang, but the robot merely pulled it out and burned it so it melted, leaving a small gouge in its red metal. As this happen, I thought about places we could hide.

Then it hit me as I stared at the smoke vent above the stove. What about the air vents? I rapidly opened up Microsoft Word on my holo-computer and wrote: I'm going to distract fire-robot. Climb up the air vents. I downloaded the blueprints for The Cave when I first got here. Use them to find another room. I deleted any information that was private, and threw the holo-computer to her. She read the information, and before she could protest, I ran off.

I threw a bolas as the fire-robot. They wrapped around her (?) and I ran like hell. I could practically predict what it would do: struggle and then burn the bolas right off. Despite its escape, I managed to run and disappear behind the shadows of the island in the kitchen. Then I jumped on the stove when the robot turned away and crept up the air vent, pulling the cover back on so it looked like it'd never been touched.

I crawled through my mind flashing back to the map of The Cave. I took a left and then the first right, which led me to a circular opening. The grate wasn't there, so I assumed Artemis had gone this direction, following the blueprints, and exited through here. I assumed correctly because as soon as I'd climbed down the ladder, I felt the steel cold, pointed metal of an arrow against my neck. I rolled my eyes and turned around; paying no heed to the small cut the arrow had cut as I moved.

Artemis sighed with relief and relaxed her bow slightly. "Oh, it's just you," she said, trying to feign nonchalance, but really she was taut as the string on her bow and had been worried about me. I could tell by how her eyes kept flickering back towards me like I might disappear any moment.

She handed me the holo-computer and I typed: Yes, it's the marvelous me! Just bow in my presence!

When Artemis read it, she snorted and said, "Yeah, I'll totally bow to a kid that's not even the height of my shoulders."

I bristled, but wasn't really offended.

Well, who did you think it was? The Gingerbread Man?

"Of course not!" Artemis hissed, her voice level rising, "Do you think I'm stu- You know what? Don't answer that!"

There was a clanking sound, and we froze. Slowly, I typed: Nice going, stupid.

"I thought I told you not to answer that question!" Artemis whispered/hissed.

Instead of continuingly provoking her, I cautiously reached for my tanto. Likewise, Artemis nocked an arrow. I looked around and then grabbed Artemis' wrist- I seem to be going that a lot, don't I- and then dragging her down the grated staircases. The room was lit with red light, and I had to navigate us through tall, big, dark machinery.

As we did this, I let go of Artemis and used that hand to hack into the systems to stop heat and motion sensors from tacking us. Artemis followed me, running behind. I ran wildly, searching for another air vent opening. When I found one, I ripped the grate off and threw myself. After Artemis came in as well, I slithered behind her and pulled the grate back on. Then I went around a corner, and turned on the holo-computer to security footage. The screen was in fourths, with a scene of the Zeta-Beams. Two of the angles showed the water from the sea. The other two showed the other side of the room.

"What are you doing?" Artemis whispered. I honestly saw no point in whispering, but I just let her do it.

Another separate tab opened up for Microsoft Word. I'm searching the security cameras to see what happened to the others. Artemis nodded in understanding. I opened the one showing the Hangar where they should've been, and looked what time it was: ten minutes until seven p.m. What time had it been when I'd first heard the crash and thought it was just Whisper being Whisper? We went our separate ways around 6:15 if my internal clock was still good (It should be!), and I'd had to wait a while for Artemis, so I say… around ten minutes ago? Just to be sure, I started the video at the time it'd been at 6:30.

My internal clock had been off a little, I realized a few minutes into watching the feed. Whisper was with Megan and Conner around Conner's motorcycle. A little ways off was Tempest, reading, and Sphere next to him. Whisper was kneeled against the motorcycle and talking to them about their school experiences, every now and then asking for a certain tool. I saw Whisper momentarily freeze, mid-sentence, and stand up. Just as Tempest was about to ask him what was wrong, the wall beside them exploded, sending rubble and smoke everywhere.

"What happened?" Artemis asked when the screen turned into Conner's favorite show.

Explosion took out the camera, I'll find another angle, I rapidly typed and then typed in some keys. The screen split back into four. I clicked on the top right one. The water was overflowing. Three swirling torrents crashed into the tiny figures (Well, tiny from the angle of the camera.), and then the screen fuzzed. I went to the bottom left, which showed the three of them. Megan had changed into her mission outfit, and the five of them got ready to run when a wave crashed over the screen again. From the bottom right one, they were running towards the ledge that'd taken most of the space, but another wave crashed in front of them.

All I could think was how devastated Tempest must be over his book.

"What happened?!" Artemis started shrieking. I looked at her with dull surprise. I would've thought she'd been introduced to the concept of death.

They're all dead. I deadpanned. Artemis gave me a look of shock at my nonchalance, and I quickly typed, The cameras are all dead. I'm sure the others are fine. Actually, I wasn't sure, but Whisper and Tempest would probably be alright, and I couldn't tell Artemis that.

Artemis sat back against the curve of the tunnel. "They're fine. They have to be. I mean, they all have superpowers."

We exited through the library. I ran down the metal stairs to the lower level of the library. Facing me were long tables vertical to me. In the tunnels while Artemis was reassuring herself that the others were fine, I'd remembered that when I was at the Bat Cave 15 days ago, I'd downloaded the blueprints of the Bat Cave and the Cave. Of course Batman didn't know that. He was known for being paranoid, and me being bored, had gone through the Bat Cave blueprints. There were a lot of secret passages, which made me wonder…

I turned right sharply, causing Artemis to yelp in surprise as she slammed into the table from the energy she used and then demand an explanation. Unfortunately for her, I couldn't answer her without her being right next to me even if I wanted to. I ran behind the staircase, so I was underneath it. Then I clicked on the file of the Cave blueprints I'd downloaded. I quickly scanned the part where the library was. A smirk crept over my face.

Artemis must've seen my triumph from my epiphany even though she couldn't see my lower face because she backed away warily. "Are you okay, Robin?" she asked, her hands reaching for an arrow.

I rolled my eyes. I'm fine, I typed, I just remembered that there's a secret passage here.

Artemis rose an eyebrow and grabbed the holo-computer so my arm was bent at an uncomfortable angle. She looked at the Cave blueprints I'd gotten just today and frowned. "Where? I don't see any secret passage way."

That's because it's not written on these blueprints. It's called a 'secret' passage for reasons.

Artemis narrowed her eyes at me. "And, how did you come to the existence of this 'secret passage?'"

I put my index finger to my lips. Secret,

Artemis growled at me. "Where is it?"

I started to get up, and froze. I could hear clanging thuds. "Artemis, Robin," a mechanical voice said.

Artemis' face lit up. "It's Red Tornado!" she exclaimed, and lunged forward to greet the voice. I grabbed her wrist just before she went out and yanked her back in. "What?" she hissed at me. "It's Red Tornado!" What? Didn't she member the fire-robot from before?! "A league member! He can help us! You're so paranoid, Robin! One day, you're going to get yourself killed, and no one, not even Tempest and Whisper will care because you distance yourself so much! Well, unlike you, I care about living a life, and Red Tornado may be the only person who can save us right now!" I glared at her, anger welling up inside of me. Even though I knew all that already, it still stung no matter how much I didn't want it to.

I jerked my hand off Artemis' like it was poison. "Fine," I mouthed, "Get yourself killed!"

Unfortunately, Artemis does not have x-ray vision and can't lip-read through my mask, and I wasn't going to take it off.

She ran out, and I turned around so I faced the stairs I was under. They were metal so I could see what was happening through each step. I watched as Artemis ran out with a grin of relief on her face. That grin melted into horror as, and I darted forward.

Just as I dragged a stunned Artemis the way we came, I saw a tall, broad-shouldered, red robot with an inverted yellow trident across his chest and another one on his head in a smaller sized scale.

There's water-robot, I thought dimly and then focused my attention back to where I was going.

I let go of Artemis' arm as I darted between a pair of shelves. She jumped up on top of the bookshelves. "There are two red robots!" she yelled, and then fired arrows.

Yay, the Reds are here. Hey, Red Tornado, you missed your family reunion and now they're mad!

I heard whooshing sounds after the airy whistle of a firing arrow. Above, the sprinklers turned on. I shivered and tugged on a lank bang. Dang, this just dried, I thought.

"Robin! Focus!" Artemis yelled at me.

I zigzagged in and out of aisles of books. My mind raced as I scanned each panel for the ordering of the books. In the distance, I heard loud thuds. Artemis was following me, by jumping on the bookshelves and firing her arsenal.

I skidded into an aisle, and grabbed at a spine with a crown on it. A sudden shadow fell over me. I turned around and saw the bookshelf had fallen and was now leaning over his. I winced as a book hit me on the head.

There was a yelp, and I looked down the staircase that'd just appeared in place of the bookshelf. Artemis was sitting on the bottom stair, her eyes clenched in pain. My mind put two and two together: she'd been jumping on bookshelves, and this shelf had dropped under her feet. When she looked at me, I rose an eyebrow.

She growled. "What is it, 'Beat Up Artemis' Day?" She asked. I shrugged, and she scowled at me.

I nearly dove in the staircase, causing Artemis to scream when I almost hit her. I rolled and landed up on my feet, then immediately launching into a run. We were in a corridor made of the mountain rock but it had been smoothed, with fluorescent vertical lights overhead.

I stopped at a four-way crossroads, and sat down with my legs crossed. What now? I typed.

Artemis exploded. "What do you mean 'What now?'" she yelled, "I thought you knew what you were doing!"

I shrugged again.

"Ugh!" she grabbed her head and started muttering. I let her rant, and after a minute she took a deep breath. "I'm sorry," she said in a tired voice.

That surprised me. My expression must've been enough because she continued on, "You were right before. In the Library I mean. I didn't really mean that about you."

I waved her off. It's fine, what you said was true anyway.

She looked at me in surprise. "Do you really believe that?"

Well, I'd honestly no intention in sharing my feelings like those kid shows, but I typed, Sometimes, yes. I mean, even though Tempest, Whisper, and I seem close, we still haven't told each other everything. So we're not as close as we appear, and one day we might separate.

I think Artemis understood my reluctance to continue because she said, "What have we been doing then all this time?"

Just getting away. Wandering, exploring,

"So, you mean to say that we've been on the run around the Cave, nearly getting killed, and seeing two Red-Tornado-look-alikes, almost getting exploded, and practically getting a concussion from a book just so we could explore the Cave?"

I thought about her words. Did you seriously get a concussion from a book?

Artemis groaned and promptly slammed her head into the metal part of the wall with a clang. "I think I might actually take back my apology," she muttered, and I laughed, my cackle echoing in the air shaft.

"Attention Robin." Woah, my name got called on the intercom! Whisper must be so jealous… "Attention Artemis. You have exactly ten minutes to surrender. Or the lives of your teammates will be extinguished." We exchanged looks. "Exactly nine minutes and forty-five seconds."

I hummed softly to myself. Of course, I couldn't actually hum, but it's the thought that counts. Once again I grabbed Artemis' wrist and shot my grappling hook, but instead of a hook, I switched it with something that could stick. The line of it tightened, signaling that it'd connected with something.

Something colder than the water surrounding us (Oh? You didn't notice we were submerged in water yet again. Honestly, it was getting tiring.) grabbed my ankle in a vice grip. I looked down at my ankle. Water-robot had grabbed it, his eyes eerily glowing red in contrast of the dark water.

Artemis yelped, and then clasped her hands over her mouth. Bubbles flew out, precious oxygen that she'd wasted.

You see, shortly after the Reds' announcement that if we didn't surrender, Whisper and the others would be eliminated- blah, blah, blah- we'd started running down yet another corridor. It was supposed to lead us to the Hangar, where the others had last been seen.

Unfortunately, said red robot had appeared and decided to try to drown us, so he filled the corridor we'd been with water. Yay.

Oddly, I was very calm with this situation. Maybe it was because I'd had so much done to me already? I don't know. What I do know is I plan on forcing Whisper to run me to the desert when this was over. And then I was going to stay there for an entire day. I'd had enough water to last me a month.

That is, if we get out of here.

I grabbed a shuriken from my pouch and started sawing at the metal hand. When that did nothing, I jammed a kunai in his eye. My ankle was released, but sore. I ignored it, grabbed Artemis, and hit the withdraw button on the grappling hook. Behind us, there were several booms as the bombs I'd left exploded.

I broke the surface of the water, gulping down air. My lungs had been killing me.

"Oh, hey Robin," a voice greeted me amiably, "Nice meeting you her- LOOK OUT!"

A blast of flame came roaring towards us, and we dove back down. Whisper's voice was garbled, but I could hear him screaming, "OH MY GOD! IT'S A METEOR! IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD! IT'S ARMA- oh, hey guys." That last part happened when we surfaced next to him. He was in his civies, great protection. Water was up to his shoulders, and he was trapped in chunks of metal with Superboy beside him. In the wall of the ledge, Sphere was stuck in a self-created hole.

Superboy was wincing, and then sighed in relief. He glared at Whisper. "Thanks for blowing out my eardrums."

A sheepish expression crossed Whisper's face. "Ehheheheh, sorry?"

"You two alright?" Artemis asked.

"Yeah-" Superboy responded.

"Right as rain," Whisper interrupted, "If you count almost being drowned 'alright.'"

"-but help M'gann!" Superboy's voice rose at the end, and he looked up the ledge. From here, we could see the glimpses of- was that a cage made of fire? How creative.

"Oh, that reminds me!" Whisper exclaimed.

Superboy glared at him. "M'gann in pain reminds you of something."

Whisper blinked. "No, I was just thinking about my rain comment." He smirked a planning smirk at me. "How about it, Rob? You, me, in the Bialyan desert-"

"Tempest!" Artemis yelled up, interrupting Whisper, her voice filled with worry, "Is she-"

"She'd unconscious!" Tempest yelled back, "But this heat… It's stifling! It saps our strength! I fear we will not survive not much longer."

Oh, no. Tempest? Dead? Not on my watch. I stiffened, my treading faltering. I hadn't realized how close I'd gotten with those two.

"Um, Robin?" Whisper said, "I love you bro, but I'd rather have my eyes in my head, not burned to a crisp." I blinked, realizing I'd been staring at him.

Fire-robot came flying. I managed to think, Huh, her flames look like hair. She is a girl! before she fired several bolts down.

We had to dive back down much to our greatest pleasure. We swam towards the stairs leading to the upper level of the Hangar. As we started climbing, Water-robot walked out of the water below us, with Fire-robot at the top, her fire-hair acting like a rocket. Two fireballs appeared in her hands, and Water-robot's eye, where I stabbed him with a kunai, was sparking.

"I'm almost out of arrows," Artemis told me as he readied her bow and we slid back to back.

In response, I threw several shuriken at Water-robot, followed by a bomb. Artemis caught on and shot a single arrow which exploded on contact with Fire-robot. The two shot water and fire respectively. Just before it hit us, we both dived off the stairs into the water. We navigated our way through the water to a tunnel, and then through the tunnels. Finally, we reached a surface and broke it gasping for air. The human lung capacity was not meant to be held for five minutes even if it was possible.

Water-robot was even kind enough to say, "Six minutes," as soon as we climbed in another tunnel. We had six minutes to figure out a way to save the others. Before, I was absolutely okay with being chased around the Cave even if I got soaked several times. Then the Reds put Whisper and Tempest's lives at stake. That changes everything.

Or we could surrender.

Should we? It would save a lot of pain and suffering.

Nah, I'm okay with that too.

"What do we do now?" Artemis asked. I could see in her eyes that she was nearing a panic attack.

I hit the power button my holo-computer. Miraculously, it still worked. We save them, I typed.

"And how do we do that?! Those robots already took out our four superpowered friends!"

You sound distraught.

Artemis' waved her hands around. "Of course I'm distraught! We have six minutes to save our friends, no powers, and I'm down to my last arrow!" At this, she took said arrow and waved it in my face.
I scowled. Well, aren't you the optimist. Get traught! Is all I wrote without thinking about my butchering of the English language. To be honest, I'd been mute most of my life, so I had a lot to think about. Including the English language.

I started crawling my down the tunnel. Honestly, I had expected more from Sportsmaster's daughter. Was this all she could do? Pathetic. Either she was incredible good at acting, or I'd just overestimated her.

"How can you be so calm?" she asked, her voice was distressed.

I didn't respond to that. First off, I was in front of her. How was I supposed to respond when I was mute? I didn't feel like stopping to type a reply as well. It'd just waste time. This whole conversation actually felt kind of déjà vu compared to the one we had earlier after the Library incident.

"Where are we going?" Artemis asked. I stopped and threw the earpiece to Artemis. She took it, confusion written on her face. I motioned for her to speak into it. "Um, hello?" she said.

"Arty!" Whisper said, "I knew that Robin wouldn't try to decapitate me intentionally. At least not in a situation like this."

"Whisper?!" Artemis exclaimed, "How- how is this possible!?" Then she glared at me. "Robin, what did you do?"

"He nearly decapitated me with a shuriken, but in it was some sort of communication device." Whisper supplied.

Artemis scowled. "I feel like I'm being left out a lot here," she said.

I rolled my eyes and typed, I need you to tell Whisper what I'm going to write, okay? Artemis looked at me and nodded. Then I typed, The Reds are robots, right? So an electro-magnetic pulse would knock 'em out, right?

As soon as Artemis repeated it, Whisper said, "Hmmm, I guess so." Then he paused as if grinning. "But you don't have an EMP, do you?"

I shook my head in negative and Artemis glared at me. "Really?" she scoffed, "And here I thought you were prepared for everything."

I rolled my eyes, and Whisper stood up for me. "Hey! Robin is, like, the best guy friend in the world."

Yes, I need an EMP. That's where you come in. You need to tell me how to make one. I typed. Once Artemis transmitted that, Whisper said, "Go to the Med-Bay. In the x-ray machine there's a small vacuum tube called a vircator that converts high energy pulses. Reprogram the unit's microwave conversion from 'x-rays' to 'EMP's' with the cascading energy vector directed outward." (A/N: I don't know if I got this whole speech thing correct. I was doing it word for word listening to this part in the episode, so I think I got it right but I don't know about the word 'virctor.')

As he said this, we climbed into the Medical Bay and to an x-ray machine. Then, I connected it to my holo-computer and did what he said. Once he was finished, my brain connected the dots and I realized that we'd have to go back into the Hangar to connect the EMP to the main generator. I mentally sighed as I realized Artemis was probably going to freak out with the knowledge of going back to the Hangar.

"What is it?" Artemis asked, seeing my expression. I gave her a blank look and typed, We have to go back into the Hangar to hook this up.

She took it more calmly than I expected. Instead of blowing up like I thought she would, she just sighed and nodded in acknowledgement. Then we climbed through the air vents using the blueprints. I pulled the slate of metal off the part in the Hangar near the main generator once we got there. Then we jumped down onto the platform which held it. I could see the water level had risen to Whisper's and Superboy's necks, and the two robots were on the ledge watching them and Miss Martian and Tempest. Over the intercom, Water-robot said, "Four minutes left,"

I looked at Artemis and she nodded. Hitting a button on the earpiece she said, "Whisper, distract the Reds."

He didn't respond, but he did shout out, "Hey!" The Reds' heads swiveled to Whisper. "I am so disappointed in you two."

"What do you mean?" Water-robot said, facing Whisper.

Whisper shrugged. "I mean that there are six members on this team, right? And you only caught four of them."

"So?" Fire-robot said."

Whisper smirked. "One of those members you haven't caught yet hasn't even reached puberty, and you can't catch him. Pretty lame, if I do say so myself."

I rolled my eyes. That comment was lame, if I do say so myself.

Apparently, the Reds thought so too, because they started to turn away. Whisper noticed this immediately and shouted, "You ugly, burnt-red, tin can, idiots! All you do is stand there shouting, 'I am R2D2!' Actually, R2D2 is the bomb! You guys don't even compare to him!"

I doubt those robots even knew who R2D2 was, but they could understand an insult- or an attempted one- when it was thrown their way because Water-robot doused Whisper's head in water. Thankfully, Superboy was smart and shouted, "Really? Pick on someone your own size!"

Anyway, while those two were failing with insults, I checked out what needed to be done to send the EMP. The weapon wouldn't fit in the power grid, and after a closer study, I found out I needed another piece of metal to complete. Another piece of metal? Well, that was easy. I had so much metal on me I could kill air ports with it. "What's wrong?" Artemis whispered. I briefly typed the situation with another piece of metal, and she nodded. "Then get out one of your kunai or something," I rolled my eyes. Did she think I wasn't going to or something? It's not like all our live are at stake or anythi-

"WATCH OUT!" Superboy and Whisper shouted in unison. I stiffened for a hundred thousandth of a second and whirled around to see a torrent of water rushing straight towards me. I heard several people scream, "Robin!"- was it Whisper? Artemis? Tempest? Superboy?- and then my vision was swept into inky black. The water surrounded me, and I thrashed wildly as it dragged me to where I assumed most of the water was. My lungs started to burn because I hand' the chance the take a sufficient amount of air before, and my mind was racing. Where was up? Where was down? I couldn't tell. If I swam this way would it be up, or would I succeed in drowning myself? Could Artemis succeed in saving us all?

I needed air! Desperately, out of instinct, my mouth opened and sucked in, hoping for oxygen. All I received was a mouthful was ice cold water. I tried coughing it out, but it was no use. The water around me was swirled fast, twisting me around and making sure I couldn't tell where I was.

As my vision faded to black all I thought was, I failed.

Out of instinct, I pulled my leg close to my chest and kicked outwards. It hit something, and whatever it hit went reeling back. While I tried to open my eyes, I heard someone yell, "Idiot! That was your fault!"

In response another person said, "Hey! I just suggested you try to take off his mask! If he was still alive, you would react!"

Oh. Someone had tried to take off my mask. That was why I struck out. I finally succeeded in opening my eyes, I was on the upper level of the Hangar. Every muscle ached and my throat and lungs killed. I was also drenched and freezing. Was this my hell? To see everyone I came close to caring about die over and over again?

Artemis pervaded my vision. "Robin!" she shouted, relief written on her face. I thought, What are you doing in my hell?

I rolled over slowly and looked over the edge. Whisper and Superboy were still in their metal chunks. The speedster was smiling brightly. I sighed, and Artemis and I walked over to Tempest and Miss Martian. We helped them up and climbed down the stairs to the lower level, me taking a drill along the way. Once we got down there, I went back up and grabbed the Reds one by one and dragged them slowly down the stairs. Oddly, no one seemed to be interested in helping me, Tempest and Miss Martian being exhausted from the fire and Artemis fiddling with the drill I'd brought down. Did I have to do everything around here?

"Will you get that to work already?" Whisper complained to Artemis, already recovering from my near death and putting his mask back on.

"I can't, genius," Artemis replied, "EMP shuts down all machines," Beside me, I saw Superboy reach for Miss Martian's hand and Tempest subtly lean closer to the clone so they could be together. I made a half-hearted effort to smile. Sneaky Tempest.

"All machines at the time present," a familiar voice said. I looked over and saw Red Tornado flying over. "What happened?" he asked.

I felt Miss Martian put up a mind-link for me, and I nodded gratefully to her. She smiled weakly in return, and I said, 'You had siblings,'

Whisper translated for me, and Red Tornado said, "I was not aware of relatives any relative I had."

"Where have you been?" Superboy asked.

"Monitor duty on the watch tower," Red Tornado replied.

'I remember. He left around four saying that he was taking over for Green Arrow.' Tempest said via mind-link.

"When it became clear Cave communications were down, I attempted to investigate. But you Zeta-Tubes were also nonfunctional. I transported to Providence, and proceeded here." As he was saying this, he walked over to the Reds where I'd put them. Above them, Sphere suddenly turned on and jumped out of the wall, making beeping noises.

"Hey, boy," Superboy greeted him. The drill Artemis held suddenly blasted out a red beam.

"The pulse has worn off!" Whisper and I said at the same time.

Red Tornado kneeled down to the Reds. 'Get away from them!' I yelled, causing everyone around me to wince and cover their temples. But it was too late.

Red Tornado stood up, his eyes glowing red. His legs and arms turned to tornadoes. Wind blew, and I felt the air become thinner. It became harder to breathe and once again, I felt a similar burning pain in my lungs grow until it was nearly unbearable. I had time to think, Not again, before I blacked out.

Again.

I woke up again thinking, Now am I in hell?

Batman was standing over me. He grabbed my upper arm and helped me up. Everyone was standing with their respective mentors. Except for Superboy that is. Superman was helping Artemis. Also, Aquaman and Tempest and sharing curt- on Tempest's part- words with each other, and Flash was helping Superboy and Whisper out of the metal.

"Robin," Batman said directing my attention back towards him, "What happened?"

I shook my head, and Miss Martian said something to Martian Manhunter. I assumed that she said to form a mind-link because I felt one form, but it didn't feel like hers. 'Robots like Red Tornado came,' I thought in broken sentences, 'They attacked, Artemis activated an EMP, saved us all, Red Tornado came, EMP wore off, Red Tornado sucked out all the oxygen,' I looked around, horror sinking in.

"And now they're all gone," Whisper finished.

A/N: Yay, two things happened.

I made Robin nearly die TWICE due to lack of oxygen.

Robin's butchering of the English language begins!

Also, the beginning may seem kind of confusing so I'll clarify:

Robin is on his holo-computer looking at security files. In the middle of this, he starts explaining what happened the previous days because 'Homefront' took several days after 'Terrors' and I needed an excuse for Robin to not go be in 'Terrors.' Basically, the events of chapter 'Learning' took place September 8th. Then Robin couldn't sleep and finally slept on September 13th to the 14th. September 14th is when 'Terrors' took place. Then the others had a training program lasting September 14th to the 18th. On the 18th Superboy and Miss Martian got back to the Cave after the events of 'Terrors.' Because they'd missed out, all six of them had to do the training all over again. That lasted September 18th to the 21st. Early in the morning of September 22nd is when this chapter actually takes place.

Ugh, that was a nightmare to rewrite. It involved a lot of jumping on the Young Justice wiki from episodes 'Targets,' 'Terrors,' and 'Homefront.' If you still don't get it, it's okay. It was just a way to explain what Robin did between chapter 'Learning' and this chapter.

Sorry it took so long for me to update!

Happy Holidays (again),

-wolfeclipse25

p.s. Don't forget to check out my new ONE-shot for this universe called 'Mayan Brains and Octopus Farts!'

p.p.s. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Everywhere we gooooo!~~